


Ten Seconds

by DesertLily



Series: Reverse Robin [1]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Batman and Robin (Comics), DC Comics
Genre: Angst, Bad Parents Jack and Janet Drake, Batman: A Death in the Family, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Not A Happy Ending, Reverse Robin AU, Tim isn't a great brother, this is honestly just pure angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:02:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24449290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DesertLily/pseuds/DesertLily
Summary: Tim Drake had a complicated relationship with the concept of family. So much so that it takes the threat of losing one of his brothers for him to realise just how much they matter to him.
Relationships: Cassandra Cain & Tim Drake, Tim Drake & Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake & Damian Wayne, Tim Drake & Jason Todd
Series: Reverse Robin [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1765855
Comments: 12
Kudos: 98





	Ten Seconds

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, this is Big Sad honestly. Aliases for reference;
> 
> Bruce Wayne - Batman  
> Damian Wayne - Nightwing  
> Cassandra Cain - Batgirl  
> Tim Drake - Firedrake  
> Jason Todd - Renegade

Family had always been complicated for Tim Drake. His parents were away most of the time and even when they were there, they had been...cold. Tim’s warmest memories of them were when they were in public; when Jack and Janet Drake were forced to present the persona of doting parents that adored him. It may have been artificial, but Tim liked those days; he liked the days where he felt wanted - when they pretended to be a conventional family. His road to becoming a member of the Wayne family, however, had been entirely unconventional. It had started the day he realised Bruce Wayne was Batman and escalated entirely after Damian Wayne had abandoned his role as Batman’s sidekick to become Nightwing. After Damian left, Batman slowly began to grow more and more aggressive. Tim had decided it was time to intervene. After all, if he didn’t then who would? That was how he became Batman’s second sidekick; Firekdrake and, after the death of his parents, Bruce Wayne’s adopted son. 

Life with the Wayne family was interesting to say the least. In what felt like the blink of an eye, Tim found himself with; an emotionally repressed father, a brother that resented everyone, an incredible sister, and the greatest person in the world - Alfred Pennyworth. It took some time but he soon began to find his place in the family; wearing the moniker of youngest sibling with pride. He and Damian came to an agreement where they at least pretended to tolerate each other. Cass was the epitome of ‘caring older sister’ and Tim adored her for it. Bruce did his best to be a good dad, with Alfred always intervening whenever Bruce fell short. They weren’t the most perfect family in the world but they were  _ his _ . Then Jason Todd came along and fucked everything up. 

In hindsight, Tim realised he didn’t hate Jason Todd. He was simply  _ jealous _ of him. Jason’s presence in his life was entirely unexpected. Tim had thought Bruce was out of his mind when he had brought home this scrawny kid; declaring that he had found him boosting the tires off of the Batmobile and he was going to adopt him. Just like that. It wasn’t even as if the kid was anything special! Just a thief that had gotten lucky! Damian had made a comment about how Jason would simply steal from them at the first given opportunity, and Tim found himself agreeing. Neither he nor Damian had ever made Jason feel welcome. If he could go back in time and change anything, it would be the way he treated Jason. He would have done what he could to make sure his little brother felt loved and cared for. He would do everything he could to make sure things had ended differently; that Jason had stayed safe. But he hadn’t done that and now he had to live with the consequences. 

The family members Jason truly seemed to latch on to were Cass and Alfred. It had taken  Cass less than a minute to embrace Jason as a brother and Alfred was just...Alfred. He treated all of them as if they were his own. Bruce tried, but he had more than once proved that emotional support was not his strong point. As such, Jason was left with two family members out of a possible five. It was pitiful in every possible way. He deserved better. It shouldn’t have been surprising that Jason would do anything to find a family that did care; taking off to find his birth mother. For the most part, Bruce had been doing his best to support Jason and Tim hadn’t really paid much attention. That was, of course, until Ethiopia. 

Jason’s decision to leave for Ethiopia set off a chain of events that Tim would never forget. When Jason had found out his mother was Sheila Haywood, a relief worker in Ethiopia, none of them had been surprised that he wanted to go after her. What was surprising was how adamant Bruce was about Jason not going. Supposedly, there had been reports of the Joker in that particular region. Like always, Bruce wouldn’t put any of them in danger unless it was necessary - especially in regards to the Joker. Yet Jason had snuck out to go anyways with Bruce hot on his heels whilst ordering them all to stay behind. Tim tried to act like it didn’t bother him but it did. As much as he tried to convince himself he hated Jason, there was still a sinking feeling in his stomach - like a warning that something was going to go horribly wrong. 

It took just over a day before Cass called an informal family meeting between her, Tim, and Damian. Tim had long since lost the ability to say ‘no’ to Cass - most people had. Even Alfred struggled to say no to her on occasion. That was how Tim found himself standing in Bruce’s office with his two older siblings. Cassandra didn’t say why she’d called them there - she didn’t have to. The rapid speed at which her hands moved was enough to capture Tim’s attention. Each and every sign was perfectly formed. As always, she was capable of making herself heard regardless of  _ how _ exactly she spoke. She was quick to make her point. “Brother’s in danger. We’re leaving.” 

Damian had simply scoffed at that. “Todd is hardly our brother. He barely fits in with the family to begin with!” Irregardless of his words, concern still flooded his voice. No matter what, they were all still a family - even if it was unbelievably dysfunctional. 

“Cass is right.” Tim found himself speaking up. “Bruce might have gone after him, but how are we supposed to call ourselves heroes if we can’t look after each other?” Letting Jason get hurt wasn’t an option. 

After that, it was set in stone. The trio was going to Ethiopia; they were going to bring their brother home. Tim swore to himself that he would treat Jason better. He would make sure his kid brother had the family he deserved. One of the few (questionable) benefits of being Batman’s children meant they had all been paranoid enough to bring their suits. Though, Tim hoped dearly that they wouldn’t need them; that it wouldn’t come to that. He was tense for the entire plane journey. Every possible scenario was racing through his mind - there were very few that didn’t end in tragedy. 

Tim had wanted to go looking for Jason the second they landed. Damian and Cass had convinced him otherwise. They were all tired and jetlagged. None of them were in any state to go looking for their brother. For now, Tim just had to trust that Bruce was keeping Jason safe. After checking into the nearest hotel, he found himself unable to sleep - and the lumpy mattress was only partially to blame. It was mostly a mixture of worry, guilt, and self-pity. If anything happened to Jason, he would hold at least some of the blame. All of them would. They had failed in their duty to be his family. Tim got no sleep that night. Instead he just lay there; making patterns out of the grooves in the ceiling and trying to suppress his worry. 

Everything went to shit the next day. It was inevitable. When it came to their family, it was rare that the odds ever went in their favour. This was not one of those times. No, it was one of those times where everything went very wrong. The day should have been easy enough. All they had to do was find Jason and beg him to forgive them enough to go home. Their first stop was a medical outpost as they went in search of Sheila Haywood. It should have been easy. Yet the first person they asked about Sheila left Tim’s stomach in knots. Supposedly, she and Jason had been seen near one of the warehouses with Bruce following close behind. His ‘bat-sense’ went off at that. Bruce wouldn’t go after them unless something was wrong. That was when it hit TIm like a tonne of bricks. The Joker was in Ethiopia; The Joker was  _ close _ . But he couldn’t know Jason was there, right? He had no reason to go after him. 

But Tim couldn’t shake the feeling. It only seemed to worsen as they approached the warehouse. 

Then it happened. The event that would haunt Tim for the rest of his life. 

Bruce, in his full Batsuit, was growing close to the warehouse. Then a deafening sound rang out as the building was left as nothing but flame and ruin. Everything inside was buried under rubble.  _ Jason _ was buried under rubble. 

He hoped beyond everything that Jason was still alive. He was too young and too stubborn to die. But then he saw it and the truth hit him harder than any punch ever could. Bruce was carrying a broken, unmoving figure. 

Jason Todd had died believing he didn’t have a family and Tim would never forgive himself for it.    


**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact: This originaly had a happy ending! Love it? Hate it? Comments are always appreciated or hmu @ desert-lily on tumblr!


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